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The Japan News/Yomiuri
The Japan News/Yomiuri
Politics
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Abe frames virus fight as 'World War III'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at his office on Monday. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe compared his response to the global spread of the new coronavirus to battling "World War III," journalist Soichiro Tahara wrote on his blog Tuesday.

According to Tahara, the prime minister said, "I thought World War III would probably be a nuclear war, but I recognize that the spread of this virus is World War III," during their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office April 10, three days after Japan declared a state of emergency.

Tahara said the prime minister must have decided to issue the declaration after changing his mindset from that of "peacetime" to "wartime."

Asked why he took time to issue the declaration, Abe said that "most Cabinet members were against the move," according to Tahara.

Regarding the effectiveness of stay-at-home and other non-legally-binding requests, Abe was quoted as saying: "It is the nation's postwar system under which no penalties are imposed at a time like this. That would be tyrannical otherwise."

Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/

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